Jesse Williams In Hot Water Over Emmitt Till Meme

Grey’s Anatomystar Jesse Williams has apologized for using a meme of Emmett Till's mother to promote his upcoming film about the Till family and their struggles.

According to E News, the actor posted an image of Mamie Till Mobley, in what appeared to be a parody of Colin Kaepernick’s Nike ad with the words, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

Williams was immediately criticized with fans pointing out that the language was inappropriate. One Twitter user said, “This is probably the worst thing you could've done here.” While another person wrote, “A Black mother’s pain at the horrific murder of her son should not be counted as ‘sacrifice’ and even her decision for an open casket is not properly framed as ‘sacrifice’ or something to believe in."

The actor did issue a rather lengthy apology, saying,

I would absolutely never make light of the tremendous tragedy that foisted Mamie Till Mobley into her life of activism and could never pretend her child being brutally tortured and executed was her 'sacrifice'. That doesn't even kinda make sense, never mind being absurd and ahistorical.”

Jesse also added that he stood by his creative expression and every hit isn't going to be a home run and ya'll know I swing a lot.

Check out Jesse in the 2 hour Premier of Season 15 of Grey's Anatomy on ABC Thursday at 7 p.m.